Zimmerman Charged With Murder

The special prosecutor makes her decision in the Trayvon Martin case. 2nd-Degree murder charges.

It took six weeks and more, a pair of outspoken, grieving parents, a special prosecutor, and a national outcry over race and justice like we have not seen in this country in years.

But last night in the Trayvon Martin case, the charge came down against self-appointed neighborhood watchman and gunman George Zimmerman:  murder in the second degree in the death of Trayvon  Martin.

Now, said Angela Corey, the prosecutor, we go to the facts and evidence.  But that won’t be easy, given how George Zimmerman first walked away.

This hour, On Point:  a murder charge in the Trayvon Martin case.
-Tom Ashbrook

David Adams, Miami bureau chief for Thomson Reuters.

Sen. Chris Smith, Democratic Florida state senator representing Fort Lauderdale. He's leading a task force to investigate the state's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law.

Monique Haughton Worrell, law professor at the University of Florida. She practiced law in Sanford, Florida.

Hugh Mundy, law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.

From Tom's Reading List

Orlando Sentinel "Late Wednesday night, Zimmerman — his head covered — was ushered out of a black SUV and into the Seminole County Jail, just hours after special prosecutor Angela Corey announced a second-degree murder charge against him."

The Root "The court of public opinion has been working overtime since this tragic story flooded the national consciousness last month. That there are so many questions still unanswered have given some license to be judge and jury for both Trayvon and  Zimmerman."

The New York Times "George Zimmerman, 28, a neighborhood watch coordinator, says that he shot Trayvon Martin, 17, in self-defense after a life-or-death struggle on the night of Feb. 26. Official accounts and interviews with those involved in the case offer a glimpse into what may have happened."